TICK TOCK

On 30th December 1935, after 19 hours and 44 minutes in the air, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry and his mechanic-navigator André Prévot, crashed in the Sahara desert whilst attempting to break the speed record in a Paris-to-Saigon air race. They both survived the crash, but with only rudimentary maps and very little supplies they were in serious trouble. Luckily, after four days they were discovered by a Bedouin, who saved their lives. This near brush with death features prominently in Saint-Exupéry's 1939 memoir 'Wind, Sand and Stars', and in turn forms the basis of this the sixth album from Norwegian act Gazpacho. Released in 2009 his album seems to have fairly polarized opinions with many strong and positive reviews, but also plenty from those who can't understand what all the fuss is about.

They are obviously influenced by Hogarth-era Marillion and Radiohead, along with Muse and Porcupine Tree but by the far the most interesting style included here are the short Arabian-style passages. For the most part this album is just too one-dimensional to maintain interest and each time I have played it I have found myself looking at the screen to see just how much longer there is left to play as I want to get onto something more interesting. The musicianship and vocals are very good, and it is well recorded and produced, but for me it is just too flat and ultimately is plain boring. I found the story it is based on, and the short biographies I read of Antoine de Saint- Exupéry far more interesting than the musical result. www.gazpachoworld.com